Wes Collins: Slow Down & Live in Abundance

The first one is just present. Not 'cause I'm the greatest gift, but I think just more said, like be present in their lives as much in as often as I can. And when I'm there with them, right, phones away. Yeah, I think that's what we talked about before, right? Mm-hmm. When we went on camera, it's hard. They turn it off in real estate. Yeah. So I think setting those boundaries, reserving Sundays, his family days, stuff like that has been really good. (upbeat music) Welcome back to another lay-ups and give me podcast. I'm Joey Thomas. And I'm Jonathan Dianney, and these are can't miss lessons for long-term success. These are simple and foundational lessons that if not taken for granted, will help you score in life and business. Let's get it. Let's go, Joey. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. Another lay-ups and give me podcasts. It's been a while. It's 2025, Joe B. Jonathan here. Excited to be back looking forward to a big year. What'd you say, Jonathan? It's excited, new year. Super excited. We have an amazing guest, Wes Collins. Amazing. And so we're just super excited to have him on the pod. So to start out, Wes, one talent that most people may not know you have. This boy can sing. Bruh. Hey, I need whatever off the cuff. You got to sing us something. Wow. Wow. Well, not all songs. We need a demonstration. Come on, babe. Yeah, great to be here. I may just leave on this note, but I don't know. Include the throat. [INAUDIBLE] One, two, three. L-O-V-E. I don't know. Erscher. I mean, yes. I mean, that's-- Yeah, that's all I got. I like it. Because one has zero musical talent. I'm jealous. I love that. Not an athlete. And so that probably is all I have to like even things. So yeah. Wes, I'm super excited. Lots to get into. Let's just kick it off with, where are you born? Give us a little of your background. And how'd you get to Charlotte, North Carolina? Yeah. Born in Texas, Dallas, Texas. Live there is a small lad. Until I was a cowboy's fan. Five, certainly not. That's some vial. Not my type of people. So even my family. So I just get in there great. But the cowboys aren't. And then my parents, my dad specifically, took a job to work for the bank in Japan. It was nation's bank at the time. We lived on base for three years. They have three-year contracts. And then there was a total godsend blessing for them, allowed them to get in a place financially where they needed to be. And then after that three-year contract was up, they did not renew. And instead, they just picked a spot on the map. And it was Charlotte. Wow. Literally nothing other than that. There's no family here. There's no draw here. It was literally just-- So how old were you? I was eight. Third grade. So any memories of Japan? Any Kobe beef stories? I know a few things, right? I mean, I definitely-- that was a core memory time where you're just-- So you're only five to eight? Five to eight. Wow. Yeah. So I remember a lot of it. My sister does not. And then my brother was made in Japan. So that's neither here nor there. That's the story for another day. Yeah. No, it was awesome. And it's definitely number one on places to go back to. I wouldn't love to go. Chris and I definitely-- it's high on the list. So having them in back since-- Have not been back since? Yeah. So I would love to go back as an adult. And then even take the kids. Unreal. Oh. 2026. Come with Abby and me. See you there. She's running the marathon. That's a long flight. Not short. Yeah. We did that a couple times. Yeah. 15 to 18 hours, depending on the wind and some other variables. But yeah. Pretty brutal, even as a little kid. So I couldn't tell it wasn't. So childhood, what was that like? You moved to North Carolina. You're in Charlotte. Yeah. I grew up in Matthews area. So I was in Brightmore, Seamus Drive, way back when. It was great. And then was there, grew up at-- going to Carmel Baptist. All my friends were there and through school, about halfway through middle school and middle school. Went to Crestdale, ended up moving to Providence Plantation, and then grew up there on flowering dogwood. But yeah, I ended up-- Providence hot pants. Providence high. That's right. Yeah. And then we used to give them work. The big conference. Yes, far. Yeah. That was a different year. But for sure, as long time ago. Definitely was. But we don't need to do that either. But no, it was awesome. I mean, Charlotte was great growing up. A lot of great friends. I still see today, which is really cool. And then took you to AppState. AppState. That's right. Would you study-- Go in the ears. Secondary Ed, history. Who'd you meet there? Met a lot of great friends. Also met my wife. Used to work at macadews. I was a cook. I made some mean sandwiches still due to this day. And she liked what Pops was cooking in the back, you know? What's your go-to sandwich? You can make me-- Me and Johnny, any sandwich. Still having hot one. The best sandwich. Good pasta. We absolutely cook anything I want it to. I don't know. I think it would really depend. I'd probably just have you fill out a little question there. What do you like? What do you not like? But easy melts. Easy when you have all of the supplies there, too. That's the hard stuff. But really the hard thing, I would say, about sandwiches. And then we made other stuff. Flip and burgers. I mean, it was a great college job. But when you have everything right in front of you, you just go to war. Is that downtown Boone? Downtown. Yep. Downtown Boone. I did that. Valade. Bounced. And then mainly just studied. And so studied. What did you study? Secondary Ed. And then history. So I was going to be a history teacher. It was a change of the world by molding young minds. And I didn't do that forever. But that's OK. When you look back at-- you know, here, labs and giving this podcast, we love to kind of pull lessons from different areas of life. When you look back to college, what would you say is a lesson that you learned that maybe you still apply to this day? It's a great question. I mean, not that far removed. Transcame with things. Yeah. But you know, there's no-- I don't know. Maybe nothing set in stone. I think that'd be an interesting sort of thing. And life can take you down a whole lot of different paths. But you're going to end up where you're supposed to be. I mean, it's cliche. But I mean, I look at going in through education, now ending up in real estate, sort of being corigning through this path and having different pit stops and pivots along the way. It's a very interesting path that got me to where I am now. So yeah, that's probably-- I don't know how to summarize that. I don't know. Claude or Jasper or chat, G-P-T-That, and so like a very concise nugget. But yeah, I would say just hang out along for the ride. But overall, a positive experience at AppState. Oh, it was great, man. It was great. Yeah, I ended up trying to think. I lived on campus for one year. And then I had an awesome experience my sophomore year. Didn't do a whole lot of schooling. I think App that year got 80 something inches of snow. And we lived about 15 minutes off campus. It was me and four other guys in this mountain cabin. I had no idea why she let us sit there. No idea. We were talking about sophomores in college. It was the party house. It was the go-to spot. It was incredible. Those dudes are still good friends. Don't see them necessarily as much as they probably would. We would cook together and just one big family together. That was great. Fun fact, both my parents graduate from AppState. There we go. Two sister-in-law, it's a brother-in-law. So kind of a pseudo-appState with law. Not really. But I don't really love the cold weather in the mountains. But I do now. And my older age enjoy going up there. Slonest. Slonest of life, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I would say too, I mean, the prettiest part of App is definitely Boon Summers. Like floating down the river, just living up there when the population basically has, it is unreal. I lived up there full time. My parents, like Joe, that my parents abandoned us after we go to college. They moved like literally cross-country. So I went to App. They moved to San Antonio. My sister graduated high school. They moved to Atlanta. And then my brother graduated. Went to Kinesle and Georgia. And they moved back up to Charlotte. So they just ripped it off the band-aid. All over. Get out of here. So out of AppState, did you straight to history teacher? Yep. Did my student teaching at Audrey Kiel here in Charlotte? Wow. And then they were fooled enough and they hired me on and said, this is great. And how long were you doing that? Three years. Three years. So it was a worse classroom. experience story, fights, any, nothing. - You ever catch a kid peaking? Taking tests, peaking on someone else? - Maybe once or twice. I mean, I have the benefit of being a bigger guy. And so a lot of the kids just, I don't know how some of the smaller women in the school would do that when they're 22. Yeah, these seniors are like 18, 17, 18. Like I'd have a hard time listening, but this is self-defense. It makes me look really old, this beard, and that coupled with stature, no one really tried anything. And Audrey Kell is so easy. I mean, no, if any Audrey Kell teachers are gonna listen to this, but like if you can't teach Audrey Kell, like you probably should give up. Like the parents care, they're over-involved if anything. - Yeah. - I got plenty of emails. Why does a little Johnny, you know, only have a B plus? 'Cause GPA's just nuts there. So, nuts, Bill. How's they, Sack? - I know you're only there three years. If you could change one thing in our education system, what would you change? - I think the easy answer is pay, right? I mean, you definitely, you're babysitting a lot of the times. So you think our education system would be better if teachers got paid more? - Oh, I don't know. I still think that clearly there's no like perfect system probably anywhere in the world. - Yeah. - I mean, and history is, I'll say, like not as important as the math, as the sciences, as the arts. I think those are cool. I think history teaches us a lot of lessons, but I also think that there are more important lessons. So yeah, I mean, I think that would probably help retain more quality educators and more teachers. I mean, I look back, that was over 10 years ago now when I was teaching. I don't know anyone, maybe four or five people that are still there. - Wow. - And in education in general, not just in Audrey Kale. So, I mean, at that point, they are going towards pension and retirement. And once you've put in 10, 15 years, like might as well buckle up for the rest of the journey. But everyone else is, they're gone. So, it's, it lost a lot of good men out there. (laughs) - Yeah, I'm sure we could, I mean, we could dive deeper into it, but not so much, I mean, pay obviously important, but even I just think the way people learn, I mean, so much of the education system is old and antiquated into sitting in a classroom, being talked to, et cetera, when we know, you know, even in real estate, for example, you learn so much by experience, by getting out and doing, et cetera. And, you know, other cultures have different views on it. And I would argue, much greater success for kids coming out of school, but interesting. - I mean, I talk a lot about it. I know we have JJ about what we wanna do. And yeah, she definitely feels pretty passionate about like, I just, she's like, I just don't believe the best way for my kid to learn is to be sitting in a desk all day. She's like, there's no way that's healthy. - Yeah, I mean, there's definitely-- - She thinks about it more than me, but I'm like-- - That's it, that's what, you know, it keeps 'em up at night. - Yeah. - No, I mean, there's technology, right? That kind of helps, I think, get people. I mean, I know one of the things I've done here in the office, right? And just, you know, people are using their phones anyways, right? - Yeah. - How do we use their phones and leverage technology to make it more interactive? - Yeah. - Because even in college, like, it's boring, just sitting there, especially if it's a topic or subject. - It's awful. - It's just brutal. So you have to really, there's so many different types of learning to just anyways, I'd address. - So what led you away from teaching in three years? Was it the money? Was it something else? - Yeah, I mean, definitely money was a big part of it. - Yeah. - I also just didn't feel like whole, right? I wasn't, I felt like I was missing something. And it wasn't just, you know, a larger paycheck. I think it was just this sense of fulfillment. Wasn't really there. Tried to fill it, you know, my last year by helping out coaching basketball. That was fun. Yeah, good dudes. It was actually a really cool run in Audrey Kale. My craft, long time coach there, great guy. - Good coach. - Yeah, great coach. His dad was a coach. I mean, they've been hickory named the whole place after him. - Oh. - Crafty. - But they actually went to a state ship. They lost in the ship. I had nothing to do with them. They had some good talent that year, but it's pretty cool. But yeah, at the end of the day, even that was brutal. 'Cause you know, you get there at six. You kind of lock everything in for the rest of the time, the rest of the day. And then, yeah, you get a planning. But if you're coaching, which, you know, I wasn't paid, it was just volunteer. I mean, I was there probably till six. Practice nights, home at six. And then game nights, I mean, you're not there. You're not back till maybe 10, 11. - Yeah. - So, I mean, you're talking about. - Yeah. - Pretty, pretty big days. But summer's off. But summer's off. And I think most people probably pick up jobs. Like, I, two, three weeks, I'm like, this is great. And then after that, I'm like, I gotta do something. So you were singing dog bars in the summer or what? - Yeah. Yeah. I have no idea what I was doing. (laughs) I think, so at the time, Kristen, she was working at Trump National Golf Club. Up in Moore'sville. - Love that course. - And beautiful course. Yeah, they did a really good job with it. She was at the time doing events. And then she moved into a membership capacity. Membership and marketing role. And so I would go up there and do fill in the blank, you know. Typically, it was more of a cabana boy. - Yeah. - Anything. - Rand the pool manager. - Yeah. - And it was, it was fine. - Yeah. - You know, it was all right. But at the end of the day, right? It just wasn't what I wanted to do. - When did you increase in get married? - 2015. 2014. Yeah, 'cause we just celebrated 10 years in August. - Wow. - Yeah. So, model. But yeah, it was, it was good. So how did you choose real estate? You leave teaching? - Yeah. So my dad has grown up, or I've grown up with him being in the bank. I mean, he has forever been in the bank. And I don't know if I've ever told him this. I just, I occasionally would visit him and maybe in college, I visited him. And there was definitely a moment one time where like I walked in and, you know, dude, it worked so hard for us and there. And I just kind of saw him all scrunched up, you know, on the computer and, you know, plugging away. And I don't know if I may be sad. Kind of, I don't like to say I broke my heart 'cause I know he loves that job and elements of that job. But I also knew, like, that's not for me. Right? That's not gonna fulfill me. I almost actually applied. This was when he was in San Antonio at the time. When he was in San Antonio, I applied to do basically a teaching job at USAAA. The bank he was working at at the time. To basically do like HR sort of teaching towards staff, which would have been a huge change to uproot us from Charlotte to go to San Antonio. But you know, Kristen was on board. We eventually, he took a job at SunTrust and Atlanta and I was like, "Why the heck am I gonna go to San Antonio?" And it sucks there anyways other than the food. But yeah, a couple, you know, mentors, talk to them one or two of them basically told me that you've got the, maybe not the personality 'cause I'm definitely an introvert, but at least have the ability to talk to people and to converse with people. And you know, a couple of that with teaching, right? I think real estate is teaching people how to work with their money. And I think I'm pretty good about handling my own money. And help with these assets that are the largest physical assets for the most part that people will ever buy. I felt like it was kind of right up in my alley. So I was 25 and that's when I started in real estate. So I went through and actually my first job after teaching, while I got licensed, I went back to Trump and I was at Trump National doing literally everything. I think my title was Club Services Manager and which means like I can curse, but basically a bitch boy. And I mean, literally anything. I did housekeeping. I was scrubbing toilets. I was doing contractor work. I for a long time was doing the tennis courts, was doing the golf maintenance. - Whatever they wanted. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Yes, Mr. Gavin. And anyways, I got licensed. There was a mentor figure up there, the big at the time. I wanted to learn from her. She had a great business acumen, long time. And just really poised and composed. And I did. I learned from her. Jody Whittess actually is amazing. How long? I was there for a year and then big daddy, Trump ran for office and people thought I was a joke. So I was like, that's all right, I'll stick with it. And then it wasn't a joke. And then he was gonna win. And I was like real estate is hard enough. Like people would rip up my cards and plasmidwood. We lived in Elizabeth at the time. People would rip up my cards. There was another agent that was there. They threw her sign away. Like people would trash our stuff. And I mean, you look at how many different agents there are in Charlotte. And then you look at how many, you're clientele, you're clientele. pool, most people don't want a big Trump sign in their yard, unless it's like you know, political season, and even then they don't really want it. It just, it made the barrier to entry so much harder. So I left, and then at that point, Jodie, my mentor at the time, she went up to New York, and she actually ran, it still runs, all of Trump International Realty. Wow. So yeah, I picked a good one. But it's really cool. Yeah, it was great. And then went to a boutique firm, and a couple years later sold my first house on the point. So up at Trump National. So it was a kind of full circle moment to say, you know, I was scrubbing toilets, and now I'm telling Allison here, you know, pretty awesome. How'd that feel? Unreal. Yeah. Yeah. It was, I mean, even just talking about it. Yes. It'll, you could feel that. Yeah, it was a lady. I mean, it was, it was really cool. And it was something that someone brought me in on because they knew that I had expertise. So, you know, I'm not going to say it was like my transaction, but an agent at DM, a friend over there, you trusted me because I'd been up there for years at that point and said, hey, help me out. Cool. I'll make that drive. And you didn't even play golf at the time, right? When you could have enjoyed all those privileges outside of scrubbing toilets. I would argue I still don't play golf, but I didn't say it. Yeah. Yeah. You've seen that swing. You enjoy golf. I do. I do. I played a couple rounds, but not as often as I should have. I mean, because Mondays were like club service days. So we had an off-samp. A lot of the staff would always go. We know. Yeah. That's right. That's right. What would you say is a lesson you've you took from Jody that you continue to implement in your business now? Maybe it's something that you she didn't maybe she taught it to you maybe you just observed it from her, but just curious. I mean, that's pretty amazing that you got to have that type of mentor. I'm definitely not I would say I'm always composed. Right. I would say that I'm all I'm never going to be for Hazard. I mean, you guys probably know that by now. Yeah. I mean, my my temperament is normally like this. I I would say to yeah, keep a lid on it. Think about it. You know, the one rule that she's always said and I've tried to sort of enact is the kind of the three-second rule where if someone says something, you know, just like literally wait three seconds see if they're done talking and then you can go ahead and sort of give your input. Yeah, that's that's a nice little nugget that I try to do when I think about it. It's not always the case, but I think with business especially and then I also think just like being stressed, being frazzled, like literally doesn't know good to anybody. Yeah. So she she was very very very buttoned up and still is to this day. So yeah. Yeah. So talk a little bit about, you know, when you're not selling houses, you get to three kids now. Demon's bone. Family. You mentioned golf. Maybe more or some other things you enjoy doing with your time. Got the disc off hat on? Yeah. Well, I know you bring athletes in on here and again, I'm not a athlete. You guys are literally scraping the bottom of the barrel to get me on, but I think it's great because anyone after this will be better. So nowhere to go, put up. Yeah, I've got I've got three kids. As you know, Charlotte Jackson, Winston, they are his little nuggets. As I always say to loves in my life, they're awesome. And they've got an incredible mother. Kristen, she's I mean, kills it for a long time was just doing that with them. Full time once we had a number two, full time mom and then now she's pivoted to a staging role that works with us. Excellent job. She does. She does. She out of Kristen. Yeah, she does a great job. So yeah, we know, I mean, we enjoy it. I mean, just building experiences with the kids is really kind of the main driver. In my word this year, I try to pick a word every year. I pick two. You like the second one, but the first one is just your present. Not because I'm the greatest gift, but I think just more said, like be present in their lives as much and as often as I can and when I'm there with them, right, phones away. We went on camera. It's hard to like turn it off in real estate. Yeah. So I think setting those boundaries, reserving Sundays as family days, like stuff like that has been really good. But joined downtown golf club shout out to downtown. Sir, I do love that place. I am trash at golf, but it is really fun. It's a great way to break bread with people hanging out. And then I love to lift weights. It's been really it's dropping some tiles on them. What's the major? Don't say I can really give you a good definition of that. But basically it's a game with tiles almost like a I don't want to call it a chess. Almost like a card game with tiles. Uncle legit tiles. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Look at it. Look at it. It's the new bridge. Basically, yeah, it's bridge 2.0. Can we get a spelling? Asian bridge. Could we call it bougie bridge? bougie bridge for sure. The ladies in town play it. So it's supposed to be bridge bridge. Oh, it's way off. Zhong. J.O. and. So Japanese is a game of skill strategy and love to distinguish from men's young solitaire. It is something for to is men's young running variations. Men's young is a tile based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and it spread throughout the world. Chinese dominant. It's played by four players. The game is original variants. So I bet the listeners did not know they were going to learn about the young. I mean, don't sleep. Don't sleep. The whole thing is somehow Chris in plays this game but looks like all the tiles are in Chinese. So does your wife. Not a big man. I guess they call that nature. Yeah. But she's great with pictures. And their pictures on them. Okay. So you and I think they like have a cliff notes version where it says north-south east west. Yeah. So you don't necessarily have to know what the characters mean. Wow. But yeah, I mean, she to the point where I'm going to go to bed and she's like sling and tiles on her phone. I mean, she's like, I'm going to get good and I'm going to beat these ladies. And she puts softball right? She puts softball. So she's super competitive. Yeah. That's good. There's one athlete in the family. There is one. Yeah. It's not me. Not me. We've made that clear. And it's not probably not my daughter. Could be Jackson. Could be Winston. But Charlotte likes gymnastics and she's pretty good at it too. What would you say is one experience that you've had that has really shaped to you are as a person? Could be good or bad. That's a good question. You know, I go back to, well, and maybe this aligns with my second word of this year, which is, you know, humble. Say humble, you know. And for me, I would say scrubbing toilets, right, going through and like sometimes I do think back to there. And then I think everyone has, right, kind of like a, sometimes they have like a pivotal low point in life that you kind of draw back on. And I'm not saying that necessarily was that, but that's one of them, right, to say, you know, man, is this really the path that I have to take and that I want to take is I'm, you know, late 20s scrubbing, mid 20s, scrubbing toilets. I maybe that just kind of showed the belief I had of myself that I was going to be able to kind of emerge out of that and crawl out of that position. And I necessarily get stuck there. But there was definitely a moment where not that I felt like I was better than that, but just like I was meant for more than that. And I wanted to be more than that. And I think that sort of set in my mind this, this floor or this, you know, definitely this, I don't know, projection of where I wanted to go. Yeah. Because I, there's no way I wanted to do that forever. And so, yeah. Would you say it seemed like you left when you left school teaching like money was part of the reason would you say money motivates you? Or what motivates you? I'm sure money is a part of it. Sure. I would say success motivates me. Say more. I want to be successful. I mean, I want to be the very best. I definitely in my mind. And I'm probably it's something wrong with me too. Like I'm never enough. Right? Like I want to be more than even what most of me is as weird as that sounds. But I think that's what really motivates me. This past year was the best year I've ever had, and I want more. Because I think I could still do better, and I let stuff slip in between the cracks. I could have provided much better service to people. I could have been more on top of it. I could have been a better dad. I could have been a better husband. I think that there's always more that I could do. Money definitely comes as a result. But I would say as far as that is probably what creates this. So how do you think you'd define success? Obviously there's a quantitative aspect, at least the money, but at the end of the day that's money comes and goes. Yeah. What's success mean to you? I don't know. I don't know if there-- yeah, money, you're right. There's definitely a bar right. I want to make a million dollars. But then I probably want to make two. And I want to make three. Yeah. It's a question if you would. Exactly. You would. Right. I will. I mean, to answer your question, I mean, for me is I want to be just firing off on all cylinders and be the absolute best version of myself. And that to me is success. And honestly, that could mean that it's not necessarily a great year, but financially or as far as that looks. I could do 10 million in sales. But if I am firing on all cylinders and I am all of those things to the end of the gray, that to me is success. That is that probably sense of fulfillment that I have sought for so long. So yeah, it's-- and I think this year was like a great example of-- I would say this was a great year where I felt that fulfillment in a lot of those capacities. Yeah. Would you say you're a learner? I know you'd be a learner and you read. You research. You obviously talked about how you want to improve. Always get better. Maybe a book or two or audiobook nowadays that's impacted you or that you'd recommend to our listeners. Yeah. I do. I feel like as soon as you think you know everything, like you're housed. Toast. You are. Yeah. Ranced, as they say. That's true. Absolutely. Absolutely. Ranced. Yeah, I really like, you know, Ed Mylett, I think is a great dude. I think has some unbelievable insights on life, on perspective. Perspective. Yeah. I think you guys have introduced some great books to me too, whether it's just day to day, right? Whether it's you buy back your time, right, with Martel. Yeah, there are big books. Go giver, stuff like that. I probably-- I read one. I would say a couple of years ago, you know, I would just end it up. A subtle art. I've not given you a great book. The audiobook was awesome too, because you basically have this, like, I think it's Irish. Irish dude, just-- Re unity. Yeah, talking to you, his book, telling you about his book, especially when it's like his stories, kind of like Green Light with the OK. So good. So good. That one on audio is really good. That one's awesome. Yeah. But I think that one-- That one was a good one. Yeah. Yeah, it's-- You should audio it. It's Green Light. Yeah. Is that his story? Yeah. Oh, right, all right, all right. His whole journey, it's unbelievable. It is cool. Like, that guy has lived 100 lives. I had no idea. It's fascinating. Yeah. Yeah. His car chase in Berlin. Am I? What? Yeah. He's boiling. He's trying to marry and treat. Yeah. But yeah, the subtle art was an awesome one. And I think at the time I read it was what I needed the read. I mean, and the title basically describes it. There's not a whole lot of noise that comes at me and people's opinions that I really care about. And so it just kind of lets me shrink my world and focus on that. I would say that's probably how I operate now. Yeah. Yeah, I would say when I think of Wes Collins, the word that comes to mind for me is consistent. Like, you're really consistent in your emotion, your consistent, your work, your consistent, your show and not like, I think you're just a really consistent individual, which is awesome. It's great to have as a teammate. I would agree. I would also say a little more lighthearted, you're witty. You're a fun, you're listening to it. You've got to listen to it. Individuals have never been around and really witty. New responses. Follow them on social media. Get a good laugh. Excited about follow the clockwork real degree on social media. The message you had to come in 2025. Shout out William Rainey. That's true. The Society for that. All right, so we talked about a little bit. Experiences, things have shaped you. Talk about the tattoos. What stories are those tell? Love a man. I, part of my midlife crisis, we'll say. Because I'm middle age now, 35. The poll came in, I asked. You're young, guys. And I said, yeah, you're middle age, Bob. I said, okay. Okay, Bob. Okay. Yeah, I think they're a cool expression for me. And I think eventually they'll probably not necessarily like each mean something. But I think for me, right now each one has a pretty significant meaning. You have a favorite one? I love this one. There we go. So my brother and sister, we all got, my brother got the same tattoo and black and white. It's on his forearm. My sister got this cute little line work. And then mine has a little splash of color. So each represent you guys. Yeah. My parents are very anti tattoo. And so that was a bit of a shock to them that we were going to get them. But it's kind of like, I get told enough, no enough times. Yeah, I'm going to do it. So, yeah, and then, you know, each one of the kids in Christen, there's cool stories for each of them that I really enjoy. So I'm not necessarily going to continue on this arm. I've heard it's addictive. I don't have a tattoo, but I obviously play basketball. Yeah. How to stare tight. It's that's tattoo world. And it's almost a miracle that I've gone as long as I did playing it. And I get one is like, you want to get one. You want to get another. You want to get another thing when you slip. Is that true? Yeah, slippery slope. I mean, I got, I'm happy. And then you know, I get hooked on artists that do it. Same guy. Did this. This, this, this, this. I mean, he did basically all of this and this. So he did, and then one other guy did this and this. So I've only worked with two. Wow. And I'll probably have him fill some of this in. And then I'll move on to someone else. But yeah, I like his slow sleeve eventually. Yeah, I mean, I don't necessarily love the prison tat look. Right? So I'd rather be like really quality. I think with that too is a lot of times I could get what you pay for. And so that's, yeah, there's, there's some space. It is fascinating because I've, I mean, it's crazy. I've thought long and hard life I ever got one. Yeah. I would go all out. And it would be on my back. And it would be like literally the store of my life. And I, and my brother's an artist. And he would draw it. And I mean, and vivid detail. And from, you know, my time, I received a Charlotte to my faith to just all these different things. I put a lot of thought. I have put a lot of thought to I don't ever see myself carrying it out. Well, funny story is my wife, Kristen also, as you guys know, shout out Kristen Thomas, Kristen Collins. One with an eye, one with an E. Kristen and my old daughter. She would have to be with an eye. That's right, baby. With both. Kristen and my oldest daughter Isabella for her 18th birthday when we got tattooed together. Now, I have these guys tattooed. Very small. My wife got the letter J for, you know, for Jesus for her joebies for, yeah, Isabella, J. It was about the joy. It was about the names of my kids. So just kind of symbolic. The letter J. It's cool. And Bella, yeah. Just a small, we'll sing here. Anyway, all it to say is funny because they would be the last people you'd think, my wife would have one. Yeah. I don't have one and she does. So I would be opposed to it. For me, it's like, Jonathan, I think it's a great way to express certain things and stories. And I'm not, you know, opposed to it. I've just never felt like I would be doing it out of personal expression. But more like what, hey, that looks cool or what have you. So it's never motivated me to get one. Yeah. They're nice reminders for me. Yeah. And funny enough, like I wouldn't necessarily ever get one on my back because I would want to see it. Not that I guess I wouldn't see myself in the mirror. I don't know. I like the constant reminders. I think that's why I like it there. I've thought about going down to the leg. Bye. Yeah. So you wanted the kids in school that drew on yourself. No, no, it's right on your hand. No, but it's funny. So Kristen has one that's right here on her wrist. It's a heart and every now and again we'll look probably every day quite honestly the like Charlotte will draw the heart on her wrist She got that with her sister and her mom That's cool. It's cool. We'll see that's cool. We'll get back to your journey and real estate, you know you Started up at the lake went to a boutique firm Came to compass after that right? Yeah, well, no, no I want to say it out loud. Yeah, you win somewhere else and then I then do a little pyramids game. Yeah And then when it came to compass came to compass. That's right four oaks You started four oaks four oaks lived for a while Seven years five years Honestly probably three three years. Okay, three years three years Yeah, and then came and came to you know as we've kind of announced on our social for anyone that hasn't heard west Collins has joined Joby Thomas and myself a clockwork realty group as an owner and balls of balls Super grateful to have you but you know, love to share a little bit with the listeners is to why why clockwork Why do you leave four oaks behind why do you think of joby and me and What's your goals here at clockwork? Yeah? I mean, I think You know, I joke when I say this, but I also don't like it's lonely. Yeah, I Think real estate in general was like a pretty lonely industry. Yeah For the most part you're doing a lot of it on your own. Yeah, and Quite frankly if you're not necessarily in this industry, you don't understand this industry Yeah, definitely not by watching the stupid shows that are on TV or I mean good lord like it just it's trash and so but people eat it up because it's trash So yeah, I mean, I think my my dream right is always been to I don't know I think to work with people there like minded in a lot of ways I also think you guys offered this really unique opportunity to work with with men that are are doing life right I mean, I think I look at Yeah, sort of this you guys as these beacons of just honesty and goodness and I mean great men to Your wives and to your children and like I Not there's plenty of great people out there, but I think you know to be in that No, they presence, but to basically be alongside you guys on that journey. I think it's where Especially you know in life where I want to be mm-hmm. So you know appreciate you guys for that and I think that You know, I can do the business side like I'm quite good at it, but I think it would be You know, it's not just about the business right to be everything else right to the end of the gree Yeah, all those things I think that is kind of what clockwork allowed me to do and I will allow me to do yeah So yeah, I think That's probably Yeah, I mean us each of us needs all of us and yeah, I think it's you know Two is better than one three is better than two and it's really We're super grateful to do with you and continue to Push each other to see each other's blind spots and be humble enough to get received feedback and All of us I think that's kind of our goal each and every day as we come in the office is to continue to request feedback from each other You know, there's many times we're gonna not spent 7 a.m. In the office and tears and praying for our wives and Talking about real life fights and things we're dealing with and that's just that's life and It's such a joy the more I am in the working environment to realize what a gift It is to have you to and to be able to share those moments with each other. I think a lot of people would Give a lot up to to be able to have that type of work environment So I love doing it. We all likewise Super grateful for you man excited for what's ahead and good Lord willing And I think awareness, you know is so key awareness and accountability I think two Awards I hope both happen to start with a but you know awareness of Hey Our weaknesses our shortcomings That we have not arrived and never will that we have much to learn as As a man as husbands as fathers As real estate professionals But we've got accountability, you know, holding each other accountable hold each other to a standard They're to help pick each other up when times aren't as easy and And that is something that we we strive to do so Certainly grateful for What we're building here at clockwork Yeah, there's a Just thought of it. I there's some Some quote right now that we say it will probably get a couple of reels that are basically saying it because our phones are always listening You know you take five drinkers and throw in someone that doesn't and right that's the person that then starts to drink You know, I think to have you know two three four people four men right that are doing life the way that you want to do You can become that that third that fifth So I think just yeah having having those like great like strong influences especially on a daily basis right war in here I think it's awesome. So yeah, it's been Excited for this year too. It'll be great Yeah, well, we always end every podcast with one question the same question we ask everybody West Collins if you can go back to the age of 25 and tell yourself one thing just ten years ago Ten years ago you're getting into real estate So when you got your license, what would you tell yourself? What advice would you give the 25 year-old West Collins? It'll all be all right It'll all be all right. I think Yeah, and then maybe slow down I would say slow down for me would be one I You go go go go go go go go go go in this industry and You know you don't necessarily Remain present remain grateful for what you do have in your life because you're just looking for that next thing and the next thing So I think just to maybe show more gratitude right I think about Blessing that Kristen has been as she was the one with the income starting out So I didn't have the pressure that a lot of these people that are in this industry have as the sole provider Or is the only income right if you're a single person and you're Starting in this career. I have no idea how people do that No idea. I mean and then I wouldn't necessarily sweat it I still don't do this day as the you know sole provider for the family but it's Live in abundance, right? Maybe that's it slow down and live in abundance But I feel like I do that now So I don't know I feel like I'm a very similar version of myself now that I was 25 but it'd probably be yeah. Yeah, it's good. I probably keep pride senate Lord willing. That's right. Hey man. It's a good way to end it Other than maybe Jonathan singing for us. What do you think? Zero percent? Greater chance. I don't drink coffee tomorrow and that chance is zero So it was worth a shot guys. I'm not singing West Collins can. It's been a privilege to have them. Yeah On the lay of singing give me this podcast greater joy to have them as part of the clockwork family. Thankful for he and Kristen in the kiddos and Thank you for your time brother. Cool. Appreciate y'all. Appreciate you. I'll be around Thank you guys for listening. Lay of singing me this podcast Dove Jonathan West Collins. You'll know look out Signing content to come 2025 God bless [MUSIC]